Drought conditions lead to $100,000 purchase to fix water well in Magnolia

Howard Roden

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, July 2, 2005

The emergency meeting of the council was called Tuesday afternoon after the well, located off Nichols-Sawmill Road, had broken down while operating last Friday. The well quit after its pump motor dropped to the bottom of the well, said City Manager Roger Carlisle. He said repairs on the well could take as much as two weeks.

Magnolia's remaining water well is pumping at 80 percent capacity. Should that well fail, the city would be without water services, Carlisle said.

"We're still bouncing around at (using) 500,000 to 600,000 gallons a day," he said. "One pump is keeping us close, but it's pumping 24-7. It's a possibility that (other) pump might go out. Because we're in an emergency situation, we don't have a choice (on repairs)."

Because Magnolia is in severe drought mode, all outdoor water usage - except for livestock, commercial car washes and hand-held hose watering on alternate dates - is prohibited. There are currently no restrictions on indoor water usage.

City water customers with even-numbered street addresses are allowed to hand water their yards on even-numbered days of the month, while odd-numbered street addresses are restricted to odd-numbered days of the month. The hand watering is permitted only between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. and midnight.

Street washing, water hydrant flushing, the filling of swimming pools and the watering of athletic fields and grassed areas of public property are prohibited.

Violations of the city's Water Conservation Plan could result in a fine of $500 a day for each violation.

Meanwhile, current drought conditions in Oak Ridge North have caused the city to pump out a whopping 1 million gallons of water a day, according to Lonnie Bienvenu, the city's public works director. That's up from an average of 375,000 to 400,000 gallons per day in the city.

Bienvenu said the elevated use of the city's water supply is "not a concern right now, but it could get worse." He said the city is actually capable of pumping out 2 million gallons of water a day. But to reach that amount is ill advised, he said. Bienvenu said the Public Works Department is in the middle of taking conservatory measures to ensure that if drought conditions worsen, the city is prepared and has an adequate reserve.

To reduce the amount of water used a day, Oak Ridge North residents who live in even-numbered houses are asked to wash their cars and water their lawns on even-numbered dates. Odd-numbered houses are asked to do so on odd-numbered dates.

This is just one of the steps City Manager Paul Mendes said the city's Public Works Department can take in "trying to be cautious while entering this very dry, hot season."

Mayor Fred O'Connor was concerned with how residents are dealing with having to pay a considerably higher water bill, which he said could be a 50-70 percent increase from the amount they are used to paying. However, residents are becoming accustomed to the higher fees and are not changing their habits, Bienvenu said, thus creating a need for precautionary measures.